


for her.

by cowsatdawn (pigeonsatdawn)



Series: lauki week 2020 ✨ [3]
Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Crack, Happy Birthday Lauren Sinclair, for once, have fun, here's a present for you who are reading this, i will not write Angst, oof, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26988745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigeonsatdawn/pseuds/cowsatdawn
Summary: “Am I not enough of a gift for you? Look, I even tied my hair with a red ribbon for you.”
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair/Kieran White, William Hawkes/Kym Ladell
Series: lauki week 2020 ✨ [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965910
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	for her.

**Author's Note:**

> people be theorizing, me be writing crap that’ll never happen in canon.
> 
> (let’s pretend her birthday is post ep. 62, because i completely forgot the timeline in canon and out of canon is different.)

**LAUREN SINCLAIR ARRIVES** at the 11th precinct and is immediately surrounded by her fellow officers, showering her with wishes, compliments, food, and, surprisingly, presents. The mood in the office is a tad bit more lively than the usual days, where Kym occasionally entertains the bleak day of working with her eccentric antics. Lukas Randall, as usual, seems to have a permanent shadow etched on his face, while Lila Desroses is brighter than ever. William is smiling a little bit more, for once not complaining about Kym’s over-enthusiasm, as there’s a very good reason for it this time, and not simply to ignore the growing pile of paperwork on her desk. And even though Lauren doesn’t care much for birthdays, and had been awake practically the entire night, theorizing as she always does, she lets out a smile to show her appreciation for those congratulating her.

Kym is the first to do so, practically running to her the moment the door opens. (William tells her later that she’s done this several times and embarrassed herself whenever it isn’t her who opened the door. Lauren genuinely laughs for the first time in a while.) “Happy birthday, Lauren!” Kym exclaims, holding her arms open wide to embrace Lauren. 

Lauren hugs her back with vigor, even though she has barely any energy. William, watching them from the side, chimes in: “Happy birthday, Lauren.” Lila congratulates her, too, with a cake in her hands. Lukas grunts the saying from his desk, and his reluctance makes Lauren giggle. The other officers echo their wishes, and by the end of the screams, Lauren says, “Thank you, guys. It’s really not a big deal.”

Kym snorts. “Clearly  _ you _ don’t think so,” she comments. “You’re still as sleep deprived as ever. Which is why Willame and I have prepared a joint present for you!”

“I’m more surprised that he actually agreed to prepare something together  _ with _ you, Kym,” Lauren says amusedly, suddenly wondering whether they have been more civil with each other lately—with all the Phantom Scythe stuff going on, she realizes that she’s missed out on many of their excursions, and knows little of Kym and William’s relationship.

William rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I agreed, it’s more like she practically  _ made _ me. Your present is that you get today off duty.”

Lauren furrows her eyebrows. “What? You can’t just do that. Besides, I’m already here, it’d just be a waste of time if I went home again.”

“To be fair, you look like you need some rest,” Lila comments, a worried frown on her face. 

William nods. “Besides, you should enjoy a day free from work. And…” Lauren cocks her head, and he simply looks over at Kym with a hesitant expression. Kym, on the other hand, has a devious one, presented along with a smirk that activates all the alerts in her brain.

“You know, the other day you mentioned that neither you nor Kieran gets much free time to go on dates,” Kym tries feigning a casual, offhanded tone in her voice, speaking discreetly as to not let the other officers hear, but the smirk gives away all her plans. Lauren immediately groans, but Kym, expecting this, ignores this. “Well, today seems to be your lucky day, friend! Hermann has some weird fascination with Kieran and has agreed to let him go home, and you get a free day because it’s your birthday and you have amazing friends. And… you know what that means.”

“Why did Hermann let Kieran go home again?” Lauren asks before she could hide her curiosity, then remembers that they think she and him are fake dating, and that it should be natural for her to appear concerned for her said boyfriend. 

Kym shrugs, looking at the Lieutenant, assuming he’ll know. Which apparently he does, as William tells her, “He looked like he was sick. I’m pretty sure he’s still in the archives, anyway. You should go and check, and go home together.”

“Are you literally dismissing me right now—” Lauren complains, the same time Kym says, “Wait, did you guys spend the night together or something?” Kym turns to Lauren with a suggestive expression, which causes Lauren to stop in her complaints, deciding instead to just do as her friends say and go on her merry way. 

Unfortunately, her plan to go straight home is interrupted by the presence of none other than Kieran White himself, popping his head through the door of the office. “Lieutenant Hawkes?” he says, before registering the sight upon him, his face falling into realization.

Kym’s face brightens, and before Kieran could back out, Kym is already calling him. “Kieran! Did you come here to pick Lauren up?” She wiggles her eyebrows, and Kieran is forced to give a smile. (Lauren wonders how he isn’t grimacing. She supposes she’s doing so.)

Kieran comes in hesitantly. “Uh, I was just going to excuse myself. Is she not going to work today?”

“Well, you’re very much excused, archivist,” Kym announces proudly, and William glares at her for acting like she’s the one with the rights to dismiss anybody. “That is,” she adds, “if you make sure this lady spends her birthday resting and happy.”

Kieran chuckles awkwardly. “I’ll… try,” he settles, and Lauren can’t help but notice how he’s trying to half-truth his way out of the conversation.

But Kym isn’t so much as done. “Have you gotten her anything, Kieran?”

Lauren is pretty sure Kieran didn’t even know it’s her birthday today, and she can’t help but say, “Kieran’s not much of a gift person.”

At this, Kieran raises an eyebrow. “Am I not enough of a gift for you? Look, I even tied my hair with a red ribbon for you.” He turns his head, and surely, his hair is tied back with a red ribbon. Lauren is surprised at how he knows that it’s her birthday, and wonders whether it’s one of the things he researched about her. She gets momentarily enraged, before looking at Kym’s delighted face and William’s fascinated one, and realizing that he’s supposed to be her boyfriend.

“A gift indeed you are,” Kym says dreamily, “and one she ought to unwrap alone.”

Lauren glares at her best friend, before thinking that if Kieran stays longer, she’ll have to hear more of Kym’s suggestive jokes. So she grabs Kieran by his coat and excuses them from the office, not-so-subtly dragging him out far enough from the APD, before shoving him away a little too hard. “How did you know it’s my birthday today?” she immediately questions, not sparing him any altruism. “Or is that ribbon just an awful coincidence?”

Kieran cocks his head to one side. “As a spy, do you think I’d leave much to coincidence and fate?” he asks her back rhetorically, as if she should know better. “Your friends are not very good at hiding their birthday plans for you. Neither are you in acting as my girlfriend.”

“ _ You _ got us into this stupid predicament,” Lauren reminds him. 

Kieran slightly frowns, but does not speak with irritation when he shoots back, “Would you rather I tell them we are the people they’re currently hunting for?”

Lauren sighs, running a hand through her hair. “Whatever. Just don’t bother me outside of the station.” Just as she’s about to leave, Kieran stops her by saying, “I have a gift for you.”

She eyes him with much skepticism, but he does nothing. Then, he says, “Feel free to break some of my bones. Beat me up.” This causes her to be weirded out even further.

“Why are you doing this?” she cannot help but ask.

“Because you’re right,” he says simply. “I brought you into this entire mess. The least you deserve is this.”

“Unlike a certain someone, I don’t go around torturing people to satisfy my existential needs,” Lauren retorts, but does not say it with her usual amount of venom, maybe because she’s genuinely considering the idea of just smacking him on the ground. And so, two seconds after she’s turned her back on him, she turns around again, landing a kick square in his chest, causing him to tumble backwards with a hard groan.

“Damn, officer,” he croaks between coughs. “Had to admit, I didn’t expect you to take up on the offer this instant.”

Lauren has to admit, she does feel better. She shrugs, feeling close to neutral with him for once in a long time. “Thank you, I guess.”

“Happy birthday, Lauren,” he says in response.

Lauren can’t quite handle the genuineness in his face, so she turns back without a word. She doesn’t end up catching much sleep that day. It seems that her friend’s wishes have been ignored by the gods today, while hers—the opportunity to beat Kieran White up and wipe the smug off his face—has been. Maybe this has been a good birthday after all.

**Author's Note:**

> today i offer you fluff and crack. tomorrow? who knows.
> 
> happy birthday lauren sinclair, ~~hypocrite~~ officer extraordinaire, loml.
> 
> (i posted this late it's no longer her bday where i am but let's pretend i'm in the rest of the world with everybody else yeah? <3)


End file.
